Ephesians Series #29
“The Right Side of Anger”
Ephesians 4:26-27
REVIEW
I. Our Wealth and Worth In Christ 1-3
II. Our Worthy Walk in Christ 4-6
This life all has to do with gathering together with God’s newly formed community and living in community as He has lived in community from all eternity. There are specific characteristics that should characterize God’s community.
A. Live in Unity 4:1-16
B. Live in Newness of life 4:17-24
1. The old life 4:17-19
2. The NEW life 4:20-24
C. Live in Love 4:17-24
1. Speak truth not falsehood 4:25
God calls us to be people who speak healing, life giving truth into one another’s souls. The soul dries up for lack of God’s truth. The soul requires continually feeding on God’s truth for life and growth. The capacity of the soul to assimilate truth diminishes from lack of exposure.
“If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Part of functioning in a loving community is the practice of sharing truth. God wants us all to be truth talkers. Peter wrote his second letter with an interesting outlook.
I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. 13 I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. 2 Peter 1:12-15
This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. 2 Peter 3:1-2
Paul felt the same way.
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. Philippians 3:1
Words have the power to build up or bowl over.
Living and speaking the words of God promote the purposes of God.
We are to demonstrate our love for the community of fellow followers of Jesus by guarding our tongue from destructive words and training our tongue to build one another up with God’s truth.
29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29
Let us work on energizing one another with God’s truth in this coming year. It is so easy to engage in conversation that discourages and degrades. Paul seems to indicate in his letter to the Philippians that refraining from grumbling and disputing amongst each other will be a witness to unbelievers that we have the real thing.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding forth the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. Philippians 2:14-16
Many consider some kind of New Year’s resolution that involves the tongue. Remember what James had to say about the tongue.
2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
3 Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. 4 Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. 3:2-4
6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. 8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; 10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. James 3:6-10
There is nothing more destructive than words produced and propelled by anger. Which bring us to another common New Year’s resolution; anger management! This is an issue that every human being fights to control throughout most of their life. Paul has some definite instruction regarding anger that each of us needs to hear and heed. He addresses the two sides of anger.
He addresses the right side of anger as well as the wrong side of anger. There is righteous anger or God’s anger and there is destructive anger or man’s anger.
The instruction is clear.
26 BE ANGRY, AND DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, Ephesians 4:26
There is a place for righteous anger, but without careful scrutiny, it can easily turn sinful and destructive. In this same passage however, Paul clearly tells us to allow God to eradicate all wrath and anger. James clearly exposes the ineffectiveness of man’s anger to achieve God’s purposes.
The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. James 1:20
We have passages that instruct us to put away anger. There are other passages that tell us to BE angry but don’t sin. We read warning after warning about the angry person. Many of the chosen servants of God expressed extreme anger over the behavior of sinful men and were not chastised for it. Other times there were extreme consequences for their expression of anger. (Moses)
We know that God is absolutely holy and sinless and yet feels and expresses anger. Jesus was sinless and yet the Bible records several occasions when He felt and expressed anger. Since the Bible does not contradict itself the only conclusion we can draw from the data is that the emotion of anger can be generated from two sources. There is Spirit generated anger and flesh generated anger. There is the anger of man I will refer to as sinful anger which does not achieve God’s purposes and the anger of God which I will refer to as godly anger which is intended to promote God’s purposes in God’s way.
Remember, the actual emotion of anger is amoral. It just is. The thoughts and motives associated with it and the actions that stem from it determine its morality.
2. Be angry without sinning 4:26-27
There are actually five commands in these verses. All four are present-tense imperatives here and one in verse 31 That means they refer to actions applied on a continual basis.
Be angry
Do not sin
Do not let the sun go down on your anger
Do not give the devil an opportunity
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Commands two through four regulate command one.
Paul told the Ephesian Christians to go ahead and embrace anger as a God-sanctioned emotion.
Be careful not to allow it to turn putrid instead of being productive.
Be careful not to allow it to simmer for a long period of time.
Be careful not to give the devil a foothold in your life in the process.
Allow God to eradicate (put away) all wrong anger from our life.
Here is the basic instruction contained in our text.
Embrace anger as a God-sanctioned emotion without sinning.
That brings up a number of obvious questions.
What is God-sanctioned anger?
What is the purpose?
The wrong side of anger is so destructive and so prevalent in our culture today but I want to try to keep our focus first on the right side of anger. Once we see the right side, I think the wrong side becomes more obvious. We will take time later to address it more fully.
How do I know whether my anger is the right side of the wrong side of anger?
The reality is that the greater percentage of the anger we struggle with in our lives today is the wrong side of anger, not the right side of anger.
How do I keep from sinning when I feel angry?
What am I supposed to do with it?
How do I get rid of it before the sun goes down?
How does my unresolved anger give the devil a place in my life?
I obviously have my work cut out for me. Before I attempt to address these questions, I want to review the basic truths taught in these passages regarding angers.
1. Anger is a God-sanctioned emotion
Since Scripture tells us to have it, it must be OK. Many see all anger as evil and sinful. We go to great lengths to deny it or suppress it. Here, Paul tells us to embrace it -- be angry! Paul used a present tense imperative or command to indicate that anger is a part of who we are just as it is an essential part of who God is.
2. Don’t allow anger to become sinful
Anger becomes sinful when we allow the God-sanctioned emotion to be expressed sinfully.
When our angry emotions are triggered by ungodly thoughts and motives and in turn trigger destructive actions, thoughts, or attitudes it becomes sinful.
3. Resolve anger quickly
This could be applied literally meaning to resolve the anger before dark. It is most likely is intended to make sure we do not allowing anger to fester over a long period of time or to be sure to act on and resolve anger in a timely manner. Otherwise, sinful behavior stemming form anger becomes more unavoidable.
4. Unresolved and gives the devil a foothold in our life
The word oven translated “opportunity” is better translated “place”. It is the Greek word “topos” from which we get our English word “topography”. It nearly always was used to refer to a geographical location.
It is used 92 times in the New Testament where it is translated “place” 80 times. If Paul wanted us to realize that the devil actually can get a place of operation in our life through unresolved anger, he couldn’t have used a clearer term. We will take up this issue later when we get to spiritual warfare in chapter 6.
5. Allow God to eradicate all destructive or sinful anger
I state the principle this way because of Paul’s use of the passive verb. Ever other command is present active. Only this one is in the passive voice. If God wanted us to do the work He would have inspired Paul to use an active verb. “You put away anger.” Instead it is a passive verb meaning to allow something to be done to you. Only God can change the issues of the heart or soul that enflame the sinful anger. Looking at this passage as a whole entity we should probably add one more instruction to the list. Paul does not advocate eradicating evil without replacing it with good. Returning to the present imperatives, Paul calls us again to live different because we are different.
6. Pursue Godly attitudes and actions
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Eph 4:32-5:2
The list of things to be purged and eradicated and the things to be pursued and embraced found here are nearly identical to the list Paul penned in his letter to the Colossians.
Over the next several weeks I want us to look more closely at anger. We will first take the time to analyze it followed by learning to manage it Biblically. I usually dump a load of data on a subject and leave the actual application to the hearer. Since this is such a universal issue among humans I want to slow down a bit and take the time to more fully understand it and apply it. My desire is that we will not only understand it better but lean to better direct godly anger and defuse sinful anger. Over the next several weeks I will unpack the two parts necessary to better understand anger.
I. ANALYZE ANGER
A. Understand the character of anger
1. Biblical terms
a. Old Testament Terms
The Old Testament uses some 20 different terms expressive of God’s anger or wrath occurring some 580 times in the Old Testament. Many of the terms come from some physiological manifestation such as snorting through the nose, burning. These terms are translated by words like wrath, anger, fury, burning indignation, hot displeasure. The cause of God’s anger always has to do with a moral and ethical reaction to the evil practiced and perpetuated by His creatures.
Sometimes that sin may be spoken of in general terms (Job 21:20; Jer. 21:12; Ezek. 24:13) and at other times specified as the shedding of blood (Ezek. 8:18; 24:8), adultery (Ezek. 23:25), violence (Ezek. 8:18), covetousness (Jer. 6:11), revenge (Ezek. 25:17), affliction of widows and orphans (Exod. 22:22), taking brethren captive (2 Chron. 28:11-27), and especially idolatry (Ps. 78:56-66). Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
The expression of God’s anger generally comes through some created agency such as His angels, His people the Israelites, Gentile nations, illness, plagues, famines and other forces of nature. The expression of His anger varies and it is clear that He does not execute punishment for evil behavior quickly. He is described as slow to anger. He is so long-suffering that it wasn’t until every man’s heart became evil continually that He employed a worldwide flood to execute judgment in the time of Noah.
b. New Testament Terms
“ORGE” (Pronounced “or-gay”)
The New Testament translates this term either with the word anger or wrath. It means to be puffed up, excited; a natural impulse, temperament , disposition. Other terms associated with this root “orge” are used to indicate “a strong desire.”
1 Tim 3:1 desire to be an elder 1 Tim 6:10 longing for money Heb 11:13-16 Those who longed for a city whose builder and maker was God.
“THUMOS”
This term comes from a root which means smoke or steam. The New Testament translates it by anger, wrath, indignation. Other terms associated with the root word indicate an emotionally charged thinking process
Matt 1:20 Jospeh considered what to do concerning Mary
Matt 9:4: 12:25 Jesus knew their thoughts
Heb 4:12 Word able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart
As can be seen the two terms are similar in meaning and are often used interchangeably.
Both terms are used to describe God’s anger and anger in men. Both terms are used describe a godly anger a sinful anger. The morality of the emotion is not indicated by the word itself but by the intent or motive of the person and the expression resulting from the emotion.
Our current passages in Ephesians employs both terms together when instructing us to allow God to eradicate it from our life [allow all anger (thumos) and wrath (orge) to be put aside].
Any significant difference in meaning between these two terms lies in their expression.
Orge - is a more deeply settle settled emotion.
Thumos -- is a more knee-jerk or immediate reaction or flare of angry emotion.
The English words wrath and anger appear 412 times in the Old Testament and 64 in the New. Its prominence underscores its importance.
2. The nature of anger
We consider anger an emotion. Most emotions arise through a thought process. We think about something that triggers the emotion or something happens to us or around us that sparks the emotion or the thought that incites the emotion. Sometimes the process is so rapid that the thinking aspect goes unnoticed. Someone cuts us of in traffic.
A child looks us in the eye and tips over a glass of milk.
The dog doesn’t come when we call but takes off down the street.
Since God does not possess a physical body yet experiences or feels anger, we must assume that anger is not primarily a physical feeling but something that stirs in the core of our being that may also have an effect on our physical bodies.
How would you describe how anger feels?
It does have physiological indicators such as an adrenaline surge, elevated sugar levels, increase in heart rate and elevated blood pressure. That is one reason anger needs to be addressed quickly. Prolonged states of anger ravage our physical bodies.
God intended us to live in peace. Anger basically is a power surge that brings us to a state of readiness for act. It is morally neutral at its core. It is a response inherited from our Heavenly Father. Anger is a powerful state that is a powerful weapon that can be used for good or evil.
It must be brought under the control of Biblical thinking and Spirit direction. We need to learn to effectively employ it for God’s purposes.
So what is God’s purpose?
B. Pinpoint the purpose of anger
What does anger get us ready to do? Anger is a powerful heightened state of emotion that readies us to address evil in our world. Anger is like a red light on the dashboard of life indicating an urgent need for action. It equips us to act decisively against evil.
It alerts us to evil lurking in our own soul or operating in the world around us.
It motivates us to act powerfully to renew our thinking, resolve conflict, restore community or do what we can to restrain evil. Nowhere in this list of Biblical purposes will we find that anger is to empower us to exact vengeance, control or manipulate people, vent, revile or return evil for evil done to us. God’s anger moves Him to act against evil. God intends this increased state of readiness to motivate us to act. Pay attention to the red light. Do something.
So often our expression of anger only has a self-centered purpose. God intends us to direct our anger for purposes related to the restoration of godliness. We will later look more closely just how we are to manage this powerful weapon.
Spirit generated anger needs to be purposefully directed.
Flesh ignited anger must be persistently defused.
When we see someone mistreating someone, we discern the evil and emotion stirs in our soul that is intended to ready us for action against the evil.
A child being abused by an intoxicated parent
A neighbor abusing his animal
A person shoplifting at Safeway
Someone using Jesus’ name as a curse word
Whenever we encounter something we consider evil, wrong, threatening to my well-being or someone I love it triggers a powerful emotion intended to motivate some sort of action.
What causes anger to rise up in one person regarding a particular incident and not another?
Thousands people became extremely angry that the Seahawks didn’t win the Super Bowl.
Yet thousands of others felt elated.
One customer flies into a rage when the waitress spills water in their lap while another feels no anger at all.
The determining factor as to what emotion stirs in my soul in response to a person or event has more to do with something inside me than the event itself.
Next week we will address that issue in the cause, course and conduct of anger.
Today we learned that…
1. Anger is a godly emotion “Be angry!”
2. Don’t express anger sinfully. “Do not sin!”
3. Resolve anger quickly! “Do not let the sun go down on your anger!”
4. Realize unresolved anger gives Satan a foothold in your life.
5. Humbly allow God to eradicate fleshly destructive anger from your life.
6. Continually pursue godly attitudes and actions.
We understand that…
Anger alerts us to evil lurking in our own soul or operating in the world around us.
Anger is the soul’s response to perceived or actual events, people or circumstances considered wrong, evil or threatening to my well-being or those I love that empowers me to act to bring about God’s purposes.
